Piano Lessons
by intheburrow
Summary: It's after the fall of Voldemort and Ron and Hermione are sent on an errand to 12 Grimmauld Place. Can an encounter with the piano where Hermione had tried to teach Ron a song help them figure out their relationship? One-shot, for now!


**Here's a nice little story about Ron and Hermione figuring some things out after the war. It's a one-shot for now but I am notorious for never wanting to end stories so you never know. I mix the book world and the movie world merely because I love the way they kiss in the book but I love the piano scene in the movie as well. It's worth it though, the best of both worlds in a way! Enjoy!**

**ps. This is my first solo fanfiction so thank you to my right-hand lady Kelsey and the lovely Amanda for reading this and making me feel like it was worth posting!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own Ron or Hermione. That doesn't mean I still can't play with them though, right?**

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><p>A stormy sort of cloud filled the sky at dusk as two figures apparated onto the sidewalk of a virtually vacant street in London. Although Voldemort had been defeated and a sense of peace had resumed, that did not mean that all was well. In fact, the stormy sort of sky matched the mood of the Wizarding World who, despite their victories, was now left to bury their dead and tidy up the mounds of destruction that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had managed to create in his reign. There were funerals to be planned, homes to be salvaged, injured of the mind, body and soul to nurse back to full health and sanity. There was normalcy to heal.<p>

The shadows that had most suddenly appeared on the street now crossed it, moving towards the row of houses and speaking words that caused the houses to shift and allow an entirely new row home to appear in between them. The one figure began to jog up the stairs to the door while the other remained stuck to their spot.

"Hermione, come on! This is the last job of the day then we can go back home for dinner." Ron retreated back down to where his partner was standing, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house with him.

As they crossed the threshold into the tiny, cramped hallway of 12 Grimmauld Place, their hands remained intertwined. Hermione looked down slightly and noticed but did not remove her hand. Instead she began to speak.

"I was coming Ron, I just swore I could've heard something; leaves crunching or something."

Ron's mouth twitched into a moment of a smile. She looked utterly adorable when her eyebrows furrowed in worry. She looked utterly adorable all of the time. He squeezed her hand tightly and then let it go, but not before reassuring her.

"'Mione, Voldemort, he's gone. We don't have to worry about Death Eaters and Snatchers constantly staking out to find out our whereabouts. You can breathe now."

As she listened to his words and felt the pressure of his hand upon hers, she knew he was right. Some of the ex-Death Eaters were still on the loose but the Ministry was doing a good job at tracking them down. The slowly rebuilding Auror department was filling with previous Dumbledore's Army members and that helped immensely. Regardless, Ron's care for her sent chills down her spine. She knew that she was being paranoid but after years of having to second-guess every sound, sight and soul that she came into contact with, she couldn't blame herself for being so.

Once Ron let go of her hand and she had both arms to herself, she crossed them across her chest and began to walk down the corridor. She strode confidently towards the main dining area and Ron knew she was ready to be about business and not Voldemort.

"What is it that Mum sent us to do anyway? I know she said something about fetching something but I couldn't hear her over the smell of the bacon."

"Is food all you ever think about?" Hermione admonished, but she answered her own questions and continued. "But, yes, your Mum told you to come and check here for those tea cups that her grandmother had passed down to her that went missing because she thinks Kreacher could have hoarded them. If not, then Mundungus got a hold of them and I'm pretty sure we don't want to give your Mum and Dad another reason to get upset with him. It'll be the…"

Ron interrupted her. He really didn't feel the need to know that much about tea cups. "Okay…Hermione. Thanks. Tea cups, got it. Those are the ones with the orange prickly flower bits all over it right?"

Hermione sighed with a smile. "Yes, the ones with the orange prickly flower bits."

(*)

A delicate hand pressed softly against an ancient wooden door so that it would open without breaking apart under her pressure. As it swung, the door creaked noisily and dust radiated from it through the surrounding air. Hermione coughed as she crossed the threshold and walked into the living area that had been familiar to her for years. It seemed odd to her that dishes would be stored in a sitting room but she also knew that Kreacher liked to find the oddest places for his nests. Ron, for once, chose the logical option and decided to search the dining room but Hermione had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that easy.

Hermione stepped towards a tall, fat chest and began to root through the drawers, running her eyes across its contents searching for dishes covered in flowers. As she shoved the last drawer shut, her eyes flickered up and stared into the glass pane of the door on the upper section of the chest. In that glass she saw a piano.

A piano that she remembered well.

The last time she had played that piano was less than a year ago. She had been teaching Ron how to play Fur Elise. His hands had fumbled and he had seemed distracted. Even though, at the time, she pretended to have no idea what his distraction could have been, she had a notion that more of his attention was on her than the song. She had giggled at his attempt, something she didn't do often or at least didn't have the opportunity to do often, and then corrected him with a knowing grin on her face. It was subtle and full of quiet flirtation, all they could get away with while the threat of Voldemort loomed over them.

However now, as she slowly walked towards the piano and used her three central fingers to melodically press down three white keys, the threat was gone and they had run out of excuses to not discuss what was going through their heads. Especially since she had kissed him during the final battle. She knew she had been irrational, acting on years of childhood love during a war, but she didn't look back on that irrationality with regret. She had been scared to death that she could never have another chance to show Ron her true feelings.

As she thought about this, Hermione moved to sit on the bench of the piano and began to play a song with a somewhat deep, melancholy heart to it. She and Ron had spent so much of their past in one argument or another and his small recognition of the House Elves had spurred in her the need to meet him in the middle, to show him the same affection that his words had showed her. Of course, kissing was entirely different than saving house elves but it had felt right. She shook her head and chuckled indignantly as she played and reminisced.

Despite the fact that "kissing was entirely different than saving house elves", though, they hadn't discussed the kiss since it occurred. Three weeks previously. They certainly acted more affectionately towards one another but not a word on the topic was mentioned. Hermione supposed that was their relationship though, nothing coming easy to the two of them. She knew the confusion was not attractive on her, though. She even found herself thinking childishly that it was his responsibility to bring it up in conversation since she had taken to chance to initiate the act herself. He always made her do all the work. _That git, _she thought. Her hands crashed on top of the keys unceremoniously in the midst of a note progression as she decided to abandon her thoughts and continue her search but something stopped her.

"I thought I heard you playing something." A voice came from the door, clearing up all of the frustration with a mere sentence as if had been able to read her mind.

"I like this song."

"Hermione, this song is too depressing to actually enjoy."

Silence would have overtaken the room if it weren't for Hermione's absentminded pinkie finger tapping on middle C. It wasn't long, though, before Ron broke the verbal stalemate. He could read her without even seeing her face. Something was bothering her and in his experience, when she was bothered, it was usually related to him. While he would usually argue that it wasn't his fault and that he had no idea what was going on in her 'bloody female mind', he actually did know what was going on and that it was his fault. At least partly. Alright, _mostly_.

To be honest, it was his ability to mess things up that had been preventing him from bringing up the kiss that she had pleasantly surprised him with. Yet, as he studied her tense posture and noticed how, over the past few weeks, this tension had only been knotted into her when they weren't in sync, he realized his avoidance was doing more harm than good. It was about time he do something to make up for his stupidity over the past few years. He could definitely get over his fear to make up for Lavender, leaving and letting her be the one to kiss him.

_Better now than never_, he reassured himself as he puffed up his chest and strode fully into the sitting room.

"You know, I never did quite get a handle of that whatever it was you were trying to teach me last time." Ron offered.

"Well, come here then." He could hear the smile in her voice. He knew it was time to fix what he had been unconsciously avoiding for weeks now.

Hermione did not turn to look at him as he began to stride from the doorway towards the piano but she could feel him as he approached. When Ron reached the piano, he circled his arms around her body and placed his hands on top of Hermione's. Even if she had wanted to move, his body created a cage that would have prevented any attempt. Gently she placed her hands on top of Ron's and situated his fingers where they should be to begin playing the song.

Not even five keystrokes into the song Hermione felt a nose softly nuzzling into her hair, not quite smelling it but definitely feeling its tickle. She sighed and unintentionally loosened her pressure on Ron's hands as she relaxed into Ron's gesture. Ron breathed deeply and tilted his head so that Hermione could have sworn she felt his lips touching her ear.

"You know something else we never really got around to doing?"

Their hands stopped moving and the sound of breathing replaced the slightly off key music. Ron moved his body so that it was sitting closely enough to Hermione for his body to join his lips in close proximity to her body.

"What?" she breathed, silently cursing herself for letting her rationality melt away again in respect to Ron.

"Talking about the Room of Requirement."

Suddenly, for the first time since their kiss, she finally felt all of her worry and frustration about the topic fall away with an involuntary shiver. "Oh, you remember that? Could have fooled me." Hermione smiled and turned to face him fully, trying to mirror his light-hearted approach. If he could bring it up, she wouldn't scold him for waiting so long. That would be nothing but counterproductive, after all.

The lightness in her tone automatically soothed his nerves. "Yeah, I have a vague memory of it. Basilisk fangs everywhere. Being pounced on…"

"I did not pounce on you!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping slightly closer into his body which allowed Ron's arms to fall loosely around her still too-slim frame. He chuckled in the irony of her reactions.

"I firmly remember being pounced on…Hmmm. Maybe it was another brilliant witch with me in the Room of Requirement. Oops, I could've sworn it was you. I should go find her, it was a great snog..."

"Ronald." She shook her head, jokingly admonishing his cheesiness but mentally noting his description of the kiss being great.

"Seriously, though. It was bloody incredible that you kissed me, Hermione. Looking back I know itt's downright idiotic but I was nervous that the second I brought it up you'd tell me you regretted it and then I would have felt like a complete cock-up."

Instead of scolding him for his curse like she usually would have, Hermione simply pressed her palms against his chest and leaned in to kiss him sweetly on the lips. Her hands remained on his chest, her fingertips flexing against the cotton of his shirt, while Ron softly placed his left hand on her cheek and rubbed the apple of it with his thumb. It was not as rushed or as passionate as their first kiss had been but it was sweet and full of meaning, which was exactly what they had needed.

"How is that for being a complete cock up?" She laughed. She pulled her mouth away from Ron's but her face did not move much farther than an inch. He could almost feel her eyelashes against his cheek.

"Language, Miss Granger." He gasped as he managed to straighten his face into a frown for approximately a half second. His scowl turned into a small smile as he felt Hermione's solid frame nestled in his arms and her warm breath ghosting his lips and cheek. He stared at her for what seemed like ages, taking in every close-up detail that had fallen away in the urgency of the only previous moment in which they had been this close.

Hermione sighed and so did Ron. He finally held her in his arms, and so she held him as well. It seemed that nothing could break the moment until Hermione coughed slightly and began to speak.

"You know what would make this moment even better, Ronald?" Her tone reminded Ron of a school professor. He had never enjoyed it so much in his life. "If you not only had the courage enough to talk to me about our kiss but were also able to initiate a kiss yourself. Do you think…"

Hermione didn't have the chance to finish her clever request, though, because the moment she had demanded action, Ron stepped up to it with full force, pulling her head towards his own and kissing her heatedly.

The chaste closed mouthed kisses quickly became more passionate. Ron's hands started at her face but moved past her shoulders and up into her hair, knotting her untamed curls into his fingers. Hermione, surprised at his intensity, initially clutched onto his shoulders but eventually relaxed and let her hand fall to Ron's waist, where he fingers drew nameless pictures on his skin. Their bodies slowly began to press closer and closer to one another until there was no room to continue. Randomly, even, smiles and laughter broke through the kissing.

This lasted quite awhile but both knew that there were tea cups to find and food to be eaten at the Burrow so it was halted before much more than kissing could be done. However, as Hermione pushed herself up from the piano bench and absentmindedly fixed her hair from the fingers that had run through it, Ron looked her straight in the eyes, smirked and began to walk his fingers across the piano.

"You know, 'Mione, I really think I could get the hang of this piano thing. Think you'd be willing to teach me some more? I could get really good with some practice. Could do us both some good." If his tone had not indicated the innuendo behind his request thoroughly enough, the subsequent waggle of his eyebrows definitely did the trick.

"Sure, Ron" Hermione grinned happily but her tone quickly changed as her gaze became affixed to the large clock on the other side of the room. "However, right now we really need to search for those tea cups because it's getting late and your mother will worry and we both know making excuses to your mother is futile."

"Damn right it is." Ron agreed, standing up fully, stretching his arms above his head and leaning against the piano itself.

"Come on, Ron. I'm not joking." Hermione began to explain, "They are…"

"I know. The ones with the orange prickly flower bits. Don't nag. I'm moving." Ron stuck his tongue out at her but didn't actually move. Almost instantaneously, though, Ron's stomach let out a large gurgle, which forced the boy to his feet.

"Oh, so now you're motivated." Hermione called after Ron as he leapt towards the door, now intent on continuing his search in the dining room.

"Like you said earlier, food is all I think about and I won't get the food until we get the cups." He paused though, as his body exited the room, and popped his back through the door frame. "However these up-coming piano lessons are inching up to a close second to food." He winked quickly and finally left the room for good.

As he walked down the hallway of 12 Grimmauld Place, Ron smiled. Despite whatever emotional and structural wreckage was still waiting to be fixed, he and Hermione were on the same page. They were together and everyone knew they were stronger together. Not only had a sense of comfort been resumed but it had been improved. There was something good. His smirk widened in anticipation. He knew what they had been capable of before but he couldn't wait to see what they were capable of doing now.

Ron thought back to the last things he had said to Hermione.

The Hermione that he knew had never settled for second best and she wasn't about to start when her competition was food.

Yeah, he was _definitely _excited to see what they were capable of…especially in those piano lessons.

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><p><strong>I hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought and if you think I should keep going or if it should stay a one-shot. :)<strong>


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